Lover of the light
by assbutt-in-Hogwarts
Summary: Elise isn't a normal girl, even by wizard standards. She just can't seem to stay out of other people's minds. But when she moves to England and starts Hogwarts, she will have to struggle with herself and make the most of her time. Eventually OC/Harry Potter. Contains all seven years.
1. Chapter 1

Lover Of The Light- Chapter 1

_**AN: Hello! This is my first story and I hope you like it!**_

_**All rights and characters (except Elise and her mother, who I created with my own head) belong to J, K, Rowling.**_

I put the last piece of garment into her drawer with a satisfied sigh. Me and mum have been busy settling into our new home for the past week, and this was the last of my unpacking.

We have just moved to England from Sweden. My mum is Swedish and she has raised me alone. All I know of my dad is that he was English and he was a wizard. I don't even know if he's dead or alive. I have never asked any more from my mum, in fear of upsetting her.

I shut the drawer with a soft thud and walk over to my bedroom window that is hanging open as usually. I enjoy the fresh air and the slight coolness at night.

I lean out of my bedroom window and marvel at the beautiful view that is set out before my eyes. Our small house is just near enough to the sea, that we can hear the water sing to us. The first night we had arrived to the house, me and my mum, Mia just sat on the small porch, not speaking, but listening to the water.

"Elise, come here quick! I think I burned the food." I heard ear mum call from downstairs. I laugh to myself. After all, that's what most of my mum's attempts to cook end with – disaster. This woman just can't cook!

I run down the stairs and into the kitchen to find my mum splashing water out of her wand and onto the frying pan, where something black is sizzling and smoking. I snort at the look on her face, her long blonde hair that looks like it used to be in a messy bun on top of her head is now all around her face and there's an insane look in her blue eyes.

I open the windows to let that horrid smell out of the house while she does her best to clean up the mess she has made.

"I'm so sorry! I really wanted to make a fancy dinner to celebrate us moving in so nicely. Everything was going so well and then I thought I could make it go faster with magic and I accidentally set it on fire! I am just bound to fail when it comes to food." She looks so put off by her lack of skill, but I can't help but ask "You have never been able to cook. What made you think that it would be a smart move to start trying now?"

"I just thought that since this is a new place and kind of like a new beginning, that maybe I'd just get the hang of it. I know I was being silly, but I wanted to be a proper mother just for once. Mothers are supposed to cook for their daughters." she looks like a sad puppy by the end of it, and I momentarily feel the need to comfort her.

"It's okay, mum. Just because you can't cook, doesn't mean you're a bad mum. Thanks to your lack of skill, I know how to cook. You teach me important life lessons! Besides, you're perfect at everything else, so I think we can let this one little imperfection slide."

Mum seems to calm down at my little speech. She gives me a lopsided grin, mumbles something that sounds like 'little, schmittle' and moves to the fridge to take out a ready made meal for us to eat. Looks like I don't have to cook tonight. Yay!

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_**A few weeks later...**_

I wake up on that damp morning of July because I hear a light tapping noise against the glass of my window. I had closed it for the night because it was raining and as I groggily get out of bed, I see a brown owl looking at me with it's mesmerizing eyes.

I come to the realization that owls are damn awesome. I open the window and the owl flies into my room with a soft hoot. The owl is holding a fairly thick envelope and I take it as he flies onto my shoulder.

"Thank you, Robbie!" I decide that this owl is too awesome to not have a name and Robbie seems to accept his name, seeing as he is affectionately nibbling on my ear. I touch Robbie's feathers lightly and he flies away with another hoot.

With shaking hands, I open the envelope and pull out a piece of parchment.

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,_

_Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Elise Lind,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

I am still in shock as I pull out another piece of parchment out of the envelope.

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

_UNIFORM_

_First-year students will require:_

_1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)_ _2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_ _3. One pair of protective gloves (dragonhide or similar)_ _4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)_

_Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags._

_COURSE BOOKS_

_All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

_The Standard Book of Spells Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk_ _A History of Magicby Bathilda Bagshot_ _Magical Theoryby Adalbert Waffling_ _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch_ _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore_ _Magical Drafts and Potionsby Arsenius Jigger_ _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander_ _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble_

_OTHER EQUIPMENT_

_1 wand_ _1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)_ _1 set glass or crystal phials_ _1 telescope_ _1 set brass scales_

_Students may also bring, if they desire, an __owl __OR a __cat __OR a t__oad__._

_PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN __BROOMSTICK_

_Yours sincerely,_

_Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus_

_Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions_

A huge smile stretches across my face as I comprehend what I just found out. I am going to Hogwarts!

"Mum!," I yell as I make my way across the hallway to her room, where she is still sleeping. When I barge into the room quite noisily she gives me an annoyed look for interrupting her sleep, but that changes to joy and realization as she sees the smile on my face and the envelope in my hand.

"You got your letter? She shouts as she gets out of bed and grabs the envelope from my hand. She reads through it quickly and then wraps me into a big hug "My baby is all grown up and going to school! I think we're in a need for a trip to Diagon Alley. You're going to do so well in school, I just know it!" With that she starts twirling me around the room and bot of us are ecstatic. I can't wait for the first of September!

_**AN: Thank you for reading. Any sort of criticism or comment (AKA review) is appreciated. There may be some spelling errors since my native language is not English, but I do my best to fix them. Until next chapter,**_

_**Marie**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Lover of the light Chapter 2**

_**AN: Hello, readers! Here's the new chapter of "Lover of The Light". I hope you like it!**_

_**All characters and places that aren't mine belong to J.K Rowling.**_

I always wake up early. The sun has just risen, when I am starting my morning routine. It's not the same every morning, some days I choose to be a slob and not get out of bed before the afternoon arrives.

But today is not one of those days. I get out of bed and dressed into my exercise clothes and head outside. I drink a bottle of water and stretch my legs before I get out of the door.

I close my eyes for a moment and bask in the brisk morning air. I feel awake and fresh immediately and with a rush of energy, I start running. One, two, three, four I count in my head and soon my feet and breathing develop a rhythm. I allow myself to get lost in the thump of my feet across the ground and how every step goes through my whole body.

I run and run until my legs just cannot carry me further. I sit down on the beach and look at the horizon, wondering what wonders lie behind it. When my strength has returned, I get up and run back to the house. Going back is always easier than starting. When I run off, I can never tell how far I will run. I have no motivation ahead of, not ending point. But when I run back home, the house is always in sight and I can keep telling myself 'just a little bit more'.

I enter the door and walk straight to the kitchen where I fill a tall glass right to the brim with water. I gulp it all down and sigh as I stop feeling like I'm going to turn into a raisin. I go back up to my room to complete my morning routine with a bit of dancing and then stretching.

Surprisingly enough, even though we are not muggles, mum and I both like their technology. I think it's pretty wicked that even tough they are in a definite disadvantage because they cannot use magic, they manage to make their life more awesome with all sorts of amazing electric things. That's why we actually own a telly and I have my music box (I know it's called something else, but I can never remember it and let's face it, it is a box that plays music so it's a music box).

I use it for music when I dance. And even for that, I enjoy using muggle music. Because, lets face it, there isn't that much variety in wizard music and even if there was, I couldn't put it into my music box.

I put the disc that has songs on it into the little slit in the music box and turn the volume as low as possible before I press the play button. I close my eyes for a moment as I get lost in the music. I move to the space I have freed for my dancing so I wouldn't hit myself anywhere and just let my body do all the work for my head.

I plop down onto the floor in exhaustion when I feel like my inspiration has run out. I breathe in and start up with my stretches. I am quite bendy from five years of dancing ballet. Doing the splits hasn't even been an issue for me. I try to stretch every one of my muscles that I strained today. When I'm finally done, I just feel like jell-o, but I know that I still need to take a shower and then I can have my morning nap and wake up again when mum comes up to my room.

I turn off mu music and literally crawl to the bathroom, not because I am too tired to walk, but because dragging myself to the bathroom seems just much more fun than simply walking there. I do get up when I arrive there and take a quick shower. Then I just go back into my room wearing nothing but a towel and get back under the covers

That has been my routine for the past two years. Back in Sweden, I took ballet classes and the need to exercise stuck with me since. Even though I don't go to dance practice any-more, I haven't stopped dancing because it is one of the things that relaxes me.

I have always needed some kind of outlet, everyone does, but I couldn't possibly stay sane without it. You see, I have always been strange, even for a member of the magical community. My theory is, that I am too empathic. I can feel other peoples pain and emotions and sometimes I see strange things in my dreams. I haven't even figured out most of the things I can do. Most times it is quite annoying.

That's why I need to take my alone time. Whether it's doing sport or music. I let all the emotions that flood into me out that way.

That's one of the reasons why I'm a bit afraid to go to Hogwarts. Mum and I have always lived in places that are a little bit out of the city, so that I would not have to be in a crowded place constantly. Like this house here, we have always lived in secluded places where we don't have any neighbours or random people walking by. Mum's mind doesn't bother me much. She somehow shields her mind from my weirdo sense.

But in Hogwarts, there will be the constant buzz of people around me. It would be there when I sleep, study or eat. I would have to work really hard on keeping my sanity there.

But that would not stop me from going. I have dreamed of going to Hogwarts and learning magic my whole life. My mum has told me countless stories of how amazing Hogwarts is. Stories about her and her group of friends, whose names she doesn't mention always bring a dreamy look onto her face and make her seemingly young face seem even younger.

My relationship with mother has always been strange, but the good kind of strange. We are similar in so many ways. I have inherited my mothers blonde hair (though hers is frizzy and thin, mine is thick and quite straight) and blue eyes. Both of us are airheads and we enjoy a good laugh. From all the stories mum has told me about her school days, I have gathered that she was (and sometimes is) quite the prankster.

Mum is the person I care most about in the world. She has raised me alone and we don't have any other family members. No grandparents, aunts, uncles or...fathers. I do tell myself that I don't need a father. Mum and I just fine alone. But sometimes I can't help but wonder. Who is he? What is he like? Am I like him?

I have figured that all the things I haven't inherited from my mother are small signs of my stranger of a dad showing out. Like my height (mum is short, I'm freakishly tall for my age) and my temper. Or maybe even my little mental problem.

I push all of the slightly depressing thoughts out of my head and fall asleep.

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I wake up for the second time this morning, because I feel a presence in my doorway. I open my eyes to see mum standing there in her pyjamas, holding plate filled with pancakes in her hand.

"Morning, Ellie! Look, magic made pancakes for you. Eat up!" She leaves the pancakes onto my table and both of us laugh.

I get out of bed feeling really great. I am awesomely well rested and my mood is wonderful. I dig into the pancakes and I have devoured the stack of them in no time.

Realizing that I am still wearing my bathrobe, I go and get some casual clothes from my closet. A simple jeans and t-shirt combo. My hair is only a little damp, so I put it into a braid so it wouldn't bother me. I don't like the feeling of wet (or even damp) hair on my skin. It makes me cold.

I storm down the stairs and run into my mum who is just on the lowest step.

"I was just coming back up to tell you that we're visiting a couple of my friends today."

She says.

"I didn't know you had friends in Britain. Who are we visiting?"

She rolls her eyes "I grew up here. Why would I not have friends here. We're going to the Weasley's house. I believe they call it the Burrow." she says and I smile.

"Should we name our house too? Perhaps seaweed? Or The witch cave?" I joke at her and she lets out a laugh.

"Yeah, yeah. But I think since we're both ready we could just get going now."

She turns around and I follow her to the fireplace, where a fire is already burning.

"We're flooing?" I ask just to make sure, eve thoug it's quite logical because there's a fire in the fireplace in the middle of summer.

"Yes, I thing you better go first."She takes the bowl where we keep the floo powder and holds it out to me.

"So I tell the fireplace that I want to go to The Burrow?" I ask mum as I grab a handful of the powder.

She nodds and throw it into the flames. They rise very high, turn bright green and with a small wave to mum I step right into them. I close my eyes and say as clearly as possible "The burrow."

A warmth surrounds me and I desperately clutch my hands to my sides and keep myself grounded so that I wouldn't fall out of the fireplace before the my stop. I barely have time to think that, when I already halt to a stop that indicated that I'm in the right place.

I open my eyes to see a bunch of redheads staring back at me. I haven't even come out of my shock yet, when my mother stumbles into me and both of us fall down onto the carpet that is situated in front of the fireplace. That poor carpet is definitely in the soot dangerzone.

I try to wriggle out from under mum and we both get up. I check myself for any grime and when I deem myself clean, I look up at the redheads again. There are five kids and two adults, one of whom my mother is hugging.

The other adult who is a slightly balding, but still distinguishably redheaded man walks towards me and holds out his hand with a small twinkle in his eye.

"Hello, I'm Arthur Weasley. You must be Elise." I give him a nod and he lets go of my hand.

"And this is the rest of my family. He points to the woman who is in an excited conversation with my mother "This is my wife Molly,"

he gestures to the oldest of his kids who wears an extremely pompous expression and a pair of glasses "he is Percy,"

he points to two boys who are identical and both of them wear a mischievous expressions "they are Fred and George,"

the youngest boy who is holding a rat in his hand "Ron,"

and then the youngest of them all, a girl with long red hair and a shy expression "and she is Ginny."

I wave to all of them, not really finding anything to say.

"We have two more, Bill and Charlie, but they don't live here anymore. Charlie is in Romania studying dragons and Bill is in Egypt working for Gringotts."

"Nice to meet you all." I get to say before Mrs. Weasley speaks up."Allright you lot. Gather up into he kitchen for some tea!"

_**AN: Like it? Hate it? Please leave some feedback. I've got no reviews yet, so it would be awesome to know if the story is bad or not so far. Come on, I wrote two thousand words for you, it can't be too hard to write a few back :) You can even point out my spelling and grammar mistakes (I know they are there even though I read through this chapter at least three times. I swear, they just hide from me). But thank you for reading and until next chapter!**_

_**Marie**_


	3. Chapter 3

Lover of the light Chapter 3

_**AN: Whoaa! A new chapter! I would like to announce that there have been a total of six readers to this story so far! This six is the sexiest six ever :) Thank you sexy six! This chapter is short and I'm sorry for that, I just felt that I needed to stop where I stopped.**_

_**I do not own Harry Potter. All I do own is my cat who only drinks water from a tea cup. And I'm not even kidding. She's soooo posh.**_

„So, is Elise going to Hogwarts this fall?" Mrs. Weasley asks my mum as all of us sit down in the (now cramped) kitchen.

"Yes, of course! I wouldn't let her miss out on the most important experience of her life." mum smiles affectionately and lightly strokes my hair as she answers her question.

"I just assumed that... never-mind." Mrs. Weasley starts up and shakes her head as if to clear it. She and mum share a meaningful glance.

There's a brief awkward silence in the room, but luckily Mr. Weasley quickly starts a conversation "Please do tell us about Sweden..." I tune out. The look Mrs. Weasley shared with my mother indicates that she must know something. Mum always resolutely shuts her mouth when I ask her about why I am the way I am. I can't even find the answers from her head, over the years she has learned to make her mind opaque to me. Most of the time I am extremely grateful for it, but I am desperate to know this thing about myself.

But Mrs. Weasley probably wouldn't have such a strong wall around her consciousness. I might even pick up some information if I try. I carefully lower my shield, readying myself for the bombarding minds of the Weasleys. I grit my teeth as I feel them pressing against my mind, the hushed voices of their heads is almost enough to make me break down. I ignore the others and concentrate on Mrs. Weasley.

At once I feel my mind get engulfed my her energy. There is lots of her joy in her mind, but with a hint of worry, that must be there most of the time. Worry for her family, but I can tell that she is also worried about me and mum. I am surprised to see that she actually already thinks of us as family, perhaps because she has an open heart, accepting and loving people easily.

Suddenly a white flash obscures my vision. I barely have time to blame the oncoming vision in my head for coming to me in the wrongest time possible before the sight opens before me.

_It is a cloudless spring night and several dark splotches have appeared onto the full moon. Those are people on brooms, but there's no way to tell if they are friends or enemies. Either way, they are approaching at a rapid speed and the people on the ground are holding onto their wands tight, just to be prepared for the worst. Vigilance is crucial in times like these._

_Elise looks at the faces of the people who are standing on the ground with her. The first familiar face is Mrs. Weasley, who already has several small children surrounding her and a newborn in her arms. But they are not the only redheads. There's another woman who is much younger and has brilliant green eyes. She seems to be pregnant and Elise assumes that she is a relative of the Weasleys._

_The younger redhead is holding onto Mrs. Weasley's hand and looks at the riders in the night (whose identities still remain a mystery)_

"_I'm sure it's them, Lily." Mrs. Weasley tries to comfort the woman, who is apparently named Lily._

"_I hope so." Lily says. Mrs. Weasley looks at a strange clock on the wall and sighs in relief. _

"_Well, the clock shows that Arthur is almost home, they must be ours."_

_The two women gaze out of the window again and as the riders come nearer smiles stretch across their faces. The smiles fall though, as the riders come close enough to see their grim faces. _

_Mrs. Weasley and Lily storm out to greet the newcomers and general panic ensues. Elise watches as the people blur away and her vision turns to complete darkness._

My eyesight returns to normal and I see that no-one noticed my slight detour from reality. I sigh in relief, because that would have totally ruined today for me. I really don't want anyone to know that I'm a freak.

My attention turns to Mrs. Weasley who comes up with maybe the best idea I have heard for a while. "I'm thinking that since all of us need to get some shopping done, we could go to Diagon alley today. The more people the merrier, right?"

Everyone in the table nods and I hear Mr. Weasley say to my mum that he wishes we could go and take the underground through London. My mother agrees with him since she is also a big fan of muggle inventions and such.

As awesome as muggles are (though I'd never want to be one, living without magic seems awful) I am lazy enough to prefer flooing to Diagon alley. As bad as travelling through floo is, I prefer to think of it as 'getting somewhere really fast through a bad roller-coaster ride'. I really don't get why most wizards whine about it. It's better by far than sitting on some bus for several hours next to a really smelly urban camper. Those poor poor muggles.

Everyone starts moving back to the room where we came from. We all gather around the fireplace where Mrs. Weasley tells everyone in which order they will be going. I'll be the third one to go. Right after Mr. Weasley and Percy. I waited for them to go before me and when Percy had disappeared into the green flames, I grabbed a handful of the dust and tossed it into the fire.

As I stepped into the green fire and said the words "Diagon alley" I felt very excited. This was officially the most awesome day of my life so far.

_**AN: I apologize for any typos and bad grammar. If I read through this chapter one more time, I'll rewrite the whole thing (again) and I'll never get this uploaded. I strongly recommend reviewing, because those who review are simply awesome. So are those who follow, favorite and read. I also strongly recommend you to not google "goat face".**_

_**Bisous min amigos**_

_**Marie**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Lotl chapter 4**

**AN: Hello, readers! Here's a new chapter, hope you enjoy.**

**J.K. Rowling owns everything.**

My first impression of Diagon Alley is that it's completely and utterly fantastic. I step out of the fireplace and join the Weasleys who have already arrived before me.

I take a deep breath as I feel how many people are surrounding me. The street is crowded and somehow I know that if there is even the slightest crack in the imaginary walls that I have built around my conciousness, the flood of other people's emotions would be similar to a tsunami.

I fiddle with the hairband I always wear around my wrist. I have discovered that it helps me stay moderately sane in crowded places. It's good to have something to concentrate on.

Someone wraps their arm around my shoulders, I can sense that it's my mother without even looking. I try to act normally and luckily I manage to escape the confines of my mind just as Mrs. Weasley suggests that we should go to Flourish and Blotts first.

I think to myself that this is not the best idea, since we'd have to carry around our heavy books for the rest of the day, but I don't say anything- I adore books and bookstores so I really do want to go there.

...

A few hours later, me and mum exit Madam Malkins. We have bought almost all of the things I would need for shchool, now all that is left is the wand, which is probably the most awesome part.

My hands get more than a little bit sweaty, when we enter the wand shop called Ollivander's. What if none of the wands accept me and it actually turns out that I am a squib? When I step in, I instantly fall in love with the shop, it's one of those place that are creepy in a wonderful way. I also notice the amazing smell in the shop. I can't really tell what it is, but I can feel the air buzzing around me. The bell attached to the door chimes and an old man comes out from the back of the shop. He gives us a smile, that is just as creepy as his shop.

"Elise B-... Lind? I was expecting you to come here soon. And Amelia Lind, Maple tree and unicorn hair, 10.5 inches, moderately springy and good for charms- you haven't broken it, have you?" Ollivander asks with a look of concern on his face.

Mum laughs, "No mr. Olivander, though I understand why you would think so. We're here to buy a wand for Elise." She explains and Ollivanders attention turns back to me.

"Yes, I expect that you will be a tough one to find a wand for, based on your gifts. But there is yet to be a child that leaves my shop without a wand and I intend to keep it that way, don't you worry." He flashes another smile as a measuring tape starts measuring me by itself.

"What,s your wand hand?" He asks me as he heads over to the shelves at the back of the shop. A measuring tape starts hovering around me and I stretch my limbs to accommodate it.

"Left." I answer nervously. He doesn't reply, instead he pulls several long thin boxes from a shelf and brings them to me.

"I have a hunch that these won't work for you, but we won't know until we try. Go on now." He gestures with his wrinkly hands for me to try out one of the wands. I take the wand from the box and as soon as I raise it, Ollivander snatches it from my hand.

"That's not the one for you. Try the others." He says and I do as I am told.

But none of them are right. As the pile of unsuitable wands grows bigger, Ollivander continues to bring me more wands from the back of the shop and I begin to feel more and more disheartened. Even my mother's almost pemanent grin fades and gets relaved by a worried expression.

When I am almost cerain that I'm a squib, Ollivander's expression morphs into one of realisation. He walks to the back of the shop and stays there for quite a while. When he finally returns and opens yet another long, thin box I can almost feel a rope tying me to the strange beige wand. This is definitely the one.

Ollivander realizes this also and gives me a strangely overjoyed look when I take the wand into my hand. Nothing happens. With all the other wands I tried, there was either a big explosion or some random things moving and flying around. But this wand simply makes me warm. The strange warmth runs from my left hand to the rest of my body like water.

"I always knew this wand would choose someone eventually. You've been chosen by probably the most picky wand I have ever made." He looks at the wand lovingly, as if it's his child. I guess in a way, it is.

"What makes this wand so special, is the fact that it has two cores- unicorn hair and a phoenix feather. It's an experiment of mine and this is the first two cored wand to have ever chosen a human. We will have to see about the results of performing magic with this, I have a feeling that this might be perfect for you. Make sure to owl me when the wand does something strange. This may be a breakthrough in wandmaking." He rambles while he wraps the wand into a package. I zone out for a while and come back to the real world when Ollivander hands me the package containing my wand.

"Here you go. White oak, unicorn hair and phoenix feather, 11 inches, nice and flexible. Take good care of it." He said and I told him that I would. Mum and I said goodbye and left the shop.

"Well, that was stressful." Mum said and chuckled solftly. "Yes it was." I replied truthfully. I felt like a freak. Yes, I had a messed up head, but was it too much to ask to at least have a normal wand. I didn't want special, I want easy and ordinary.

Speaking of special, I have a massive headache from keeping all of these people out of my head. Diagon alley had only become more crowded as the day passed and it was very tiring. I hadn't noticed while being in the shop, but now it's really getting to me.

Mum grabs my hand and pulls me along with her. I keep my eyes on the ground and look up only when we stop. I see the identical faces of Fred and George Weasley.

"Do you mind letting Elise tag along with you for a while? I have a few errands to run." Mum asks them and the nod simultaneously.

"We solemnly swear..."

"...that we are up to only good"

"And that you will get this lovely girl here back..."

"In one piece..."

"...two at most..."

"...never three."

Mum doesn't even mind the fact that they just threatened to cut me into two pieces. She hands them a couple of coins.

"I heard Filibusters was having a sale on heat free fireworks. Go and have fun, just don't lose each other, it's getting really crowded here. I'll find you when I'm done." With that, she disappears into the sea of people.

Fred and George grab my hands on both sides and we start walking somewhere, I assume our direction is toward the filibuster shop, wherever that is.

"So tell us young Ellie..."

"Are you one of the Percy Weasleys of the world..."

"Or are you more of a free spirit?"

"Do you wish to soar high into the skies of pranking..."

"Or is your ambition to become a petty prefect one day."

Honestly, the way they speak is unnnerving.

"I haven't decided yet." I answer, too tired to think of something witty.

"Then you need good influences in your life..."

"the best ones in the business are a pair of red-headed twins."

"What were their names again?"

"Wiazoly? Wonking?"

"Weasley, maybe?"

"Yes! But I've heard that their scedules are very full."

"Yes, though they might have room for just one ickle firstie. They are in sore need of a protigee."

"Someone with a light step for sneaking and just the right size for hiding in the nooks and crannies of Hogwarts"

"What say you, youngster?" They finally asked when we reached a door that could have only been filibuster's.

"Aye, aye captains." I told them and after sharing a smile with each other they opened the door to the shop dramatically.

"We knew you were our kind when you flooed into our home."

"You just had that extra glint in your pretty blue eyes."

"We swear that your first year is going to be legendary."

"Unless you get sorted into Slytherin."

I laughed and ran off to see the shelves filled with colorful packages that lookef like firework. My good mood over probably making new friends banishes my headache and for once I feel like I can have fun like any other eleven year old looking forward to school.

**AN: Did you like it? Please try to review, it means the world to me. I do not plan on making Fred and Geoge her best friends nor the main characters in this story, I just think that Elise needs a little more fun in her life. I apologize for any mistakes :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Lover of the light Chapter 5**

_**AN: Here's the new chapter! I hope you like it, I'd like to thank thetigerlilly for reviewing on ALL the capters and also agreeing to beta this story for me. So this chapter and all the following ones will be corrected by her. Thank you all for reading!**_

_**The characters that are not mine belong to J.K Rowling, she is awesome.**_

Fred, George and I stepped out of the shop, holding bags filled with all kinds of safe explosives. They are wearing almost identical Cheshire cat grins and I can just tell that they plan on wreaking havoc on the world with those fireworks.

I look around in the crowd looking for my mum, I have a hunch that she's coming towards us. After looking around for a while, I see her rushing towards us looking like a pack mule. I save that mental picture in my head, because she looks comical trying to not drop any of the stuff she's holding.

When she reaches us, she hands me a woven basket while trying to balance all of the other bags in her hands. I take a few of them, because the more she struggles, the more I feel sorry for her. She sighed thankfully and then smiles expectantly, looking pointedly towards the woven basket she handed to me before. "Take a peek inside, it's a surprise for you."

To say that I am overjoyed is an understatement. When I see the inhabitant of the basket, I let out a squeal so high pitched that it's bordering on being an ultrasound. From the corner of my eye, I see Fred and George cover their ears while grimacing, but I am too busy marveling at my cat to pay any mind to them. Yes, a cat. A small black fur-ball with white spots and eyes as blue as the ocean. This is truly the happiest moment of my life so far.

* * *

A few weeks later, when it's less than a week until school, my beloved cat (who I've named Amy) and I are sitting on the living room sofa. She is purring and I have just finished reading "Hogwarts: a history". On our trip to Diagon Alley, we bought a lot of extra reading on top of my school books. I won't be taking much of it with me to Hogwarts though because I have read them all by now and mum said that there's a huge library in the school.

I suspect that I'm going to spend all of my free time there, because it's highly unlikely that I would be making any friends at school. Honestly, I'm far too shy to even speak to people because of my accented English. When I confessed that to mum, she said that I would be speaking flawless English in no time.

There's also the problem with my disability. I'm not making any certain predictions, but I might spend all seven of my school years in a constant panic attack. Mum said that I shouldn't worry too much, my shields have gotten quite good by now, but I still worry like hell. Worrying is what I do best.

I guess I have a few friendly acquaintances like the Weasley kids. But I can't tell if they're my friends, how does a person establish that?

Suddenly, mum bursts into the room, interrupting my panicking. "Come on, Ellie. Get your nose outta that book and spend some time outside. It's a beautiful day!" She grabs the closed book from my hands and drags me along outside before I get the chance to say anything.

I wish I was more like her, so lovely and energetic. Instead I'm me, the timid girl who is always lost in her head full of other people's minds.

I idolize her, but I really don't have that outgoing-ness or energy within me. My life swirls around my disability to the point that it has consumed me and has become my personality.

Realizing that I have zoned out again, I turn my eyes from unseeingly staring off into the distance, to looking towards my mum who had a knowing expression on her face.

"I always wonder what's going on in that head of yours when you do that."

"Do what?" I ask, not even trying to sound like I don't know what she is talking about.

She just shakes her head and continues on, "Are you worried about going to school. I know I am and I'm not even the one who's going."

"I don't know, I just want to be normal. And I'm really going to miss you, I don't want to leave you all alone, what will you eat?" I try to turn the sentimental moment into a joke.

She laughs and musses my hair, I back off annoyed. "I'm going to be fine by myself, you stop worrying. I'll just concentrate on my research, I won't get bored or anything. I'm also going to buy myself an owl and I'll start writing you long angsty letters. I'll make it my purpose to make you sob at the breakfast table. Come over here!" She held her arms out for a hug her and I hurry into her arms, breathing in her familiar scent.

When we start walking towards her garden, she mutters, "Girl, soon enough you'll be taller than me, then you can get stuff from the top shelf for me when we go shopping."

I'm definitely going to miss home.

* * *

I couldn't be any more prepared for the 1st of September. I'm not even sure how many times I checked my trunk to see if I had all my stuff. Thankfully I am insanely fond of packing, so there was no chance that I would leave it for the last minute.

I laid out my clothes the night before, I also carefully planned out breakfast (cereal) and mum contributed by making me a few sandwiches for the train ride. Also, she gave me a bit of money so that I could buy sweets from the food trolley.

So naturally, I feel very smug when I wake up just a little bit before my mum on THE day. The best thing to do now is to wake her up in style.

By waking her up in style, I mean making a lot of noise until she finally gets up. Then minutes later, we were sitting at the table, eating breakfast.

"Wait, how are we going to get to King's Cross?" I ask in sudden horror. How did I not think of this?

"We're going to catch a bus to London and then we'll take the underground to King's Cross!" she says excitedly and continues eating her food.

The whole morning passes in an awkward silent haze. Neither of us want to get very sentimental and we really don't have much to say. Mum already knows that I'll be careful and I'll do my best at school.

So in that silence, we dragged my trunk downstairs and I coaxed Amy into the basket that mum bought her in. Once I'd closed the lid of the basket, she looked at me with such a kitten-like face that I feel guilty; but in the end, I convince myself that it's necessary.

The journey went just as dreadfully as I expected it to go. At first we had to walk at least three kilometers through the woods to reach the nearest bus stop. Itwas quite miserable - since we live in such a secluded place - there are practically no trails in the woods near our house, so we have to drag my heavy trunk all through the stubbly floor of the forest. Mum and I take turns, because I don't feel comfortable making her carry my heavy stuff all by herself.

Both of us sighed with relief when we reached the asphalt road where the bus stop was in in sight. Collecting our last remaining strength, we practically jogged there.

But of course, since the universe likes to mock me, we had to wait for the bus for what seemed like an hour. This is the worst timing my mum has ever had being a muggle enthusiast. We could have flooed there and left home at least two hours later!

I suffer my sufferings in silence, she is already so irritated that it's wafting off of her. Of course, the bus ride did NOT help. We sat down, struggling to fit the trunk in the empty space in front of our feet. As we calmly traveled down the rockiest road ever, in the almost completely empty bus, a man sat in front of us.

Let me tell you something about that man. He must have taken a bath in poop and liquor before he stepped on the bus because he STANK. Of course, I haven't made it a habit for myself to judge people by their smell, but I couldn't help it. I _can_ judge him by the fact that he decided to sit in front of us in an empty bus.

This was the grumpiest I had ever seen my mum. Obviously she had planned the trip to King's Cross to be a beautiful adventure, a bonding experience between mother and daughter. She spent the whole bus ride (which seemed to last for at least a year) marinating in her pissed off-ness. Halfway through, I give her a comforting pat on the shoulder. Perhaps the ride on the underground would be nice.

Of course it wasn't. If the bus to London was almost empty, the underground was packed full of people. Of course mum struggles with the tickets and the muggle money, so we almost miss it and we have to run for our lives to reach the doors before they close. It was mortifying!

At least the rest of our journey passed without any major complications. Aside from the fact that Amy kept meowing all through the ride, it went quite smoothly. By the time we got to the train station (with ten minutes to spare until the Hogwart's express left), mum had completely calmed down.

But I was struggling with a full on migraine. Keeping out of people's heads really takes a toll on me and I had to concentrate hard on things as simple as putting one foot in front of the other. Entering the magical part of the train station was a complete blur to me, thankfully the pressure on my head got easier when we crossed the barrier. I could still feel the people on the other side, but they weren't as obtrusive as before. Sometimes walls help, but not always. was thankful that they did this time though.

I felt mum kiss me on my forehead as we stood near the door of the train. She pushed a piece of parchment into my hand "This might be helpful. Are you sure you're going to be okay at school? You don't have to go if you don't want to, no-one is making you do anything, I could teach you at home," She whispers but I shook my head.

"No, trust me I want this," I hugged her as tight as I could and when the train whistled, I rushed towards the door and waved to her through the windows as the train started to move. I watched as she disappeared into the throng of other parents and went off to find an empty compartment to sit in.

_**AN: Did you like it or did you hate it. You can always leave some feedback, which would be amazing of you. Come on, I wrote almost 2 000 words, you can write me a few. PLEASE? If you decide to not review, know that I still love you for reading this story. Thank you and have a nice day/night.**_

_**Love,  
Marie.**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Lover of the light Chapter 6**

_**AN: I hope you enjoy the chapter! I'm not very happy with it, but it's the best I could do. Thank you to everyone who has favorited or followed this story, you people are pretty cool. Thetigerlilly has beta read this story, she is also pretty cool.**_

_**J.K Rowling wrote the harry potter series, she owns them too.**_

I walked through the hallway between the compartments, feeling nervous and insecure. For a while I contemplated just spending the train ride in the hallway and act as if I was just taking a stroll if someone sees me, but I categorized that plan as bad. I just needed to build up my courage and ask someone if I could sit with them, because there are no empty compartments left. It couldn't be that bad.

I tentatively looked through one of the windows, trying to find someone friendly-looking. After walking through almost the whole train, I saw a round-faced boy that looked like a first year in need of company. I muster up all of my courage and peek through the door, "excuse me, could I sit here? All the other compartments are full," I smile at him apologetically. What if he wants to sit alone?

"Sure, come on in," he mumbled and I sighed in relief. That wasn't as bad as it could have been. I put my trunk away and place the basket containing my furious kitten onto the bench next to my seat. Then I sat down opposite of the boy and leaned on the wall whilst giving him an awkward smile. In a situation like that, an awkward smile is the only kind I am capable of.

I silently prayed to the universe and all that is good, that the boy would start a conversation. If the silence continued a while longer, I was going to have to initiate conversation and I was so panicked that I couldn't remember a single word of English.

After the long and painful pause of inner turmoil, the boy spoke up, "I-I'm Neville Longbottom. What's your name?"

"I'm Elise Lind, It's nice to meet you," I said in return. Another awkward pause.

"So, we really need a topic to talk about or else we're going to be stuck in this infinite loop of awkward silence for the rest of the train ride." I tried to joke, cringing at my accent.

"How about we tell each-other what we know about Hogwarts. I for one am nervous about the sorting. I'll probably end up in Hufflepuff!" he seemed to gain some confidence and smiled less nervously. I actually felt quite comfortable around him; luckily he didn't have a loud mind so it's easy to block him out.

"I don't think that there's any shame in being a Hufflepuff. Every house has its qualities, I'm pretty sure that I might end up in Hufflepuff, definitely not in Gryffindor." I chuckled as I thought about how shy I am. Yes, definitely not Gryffindor.

"Most of my family has been in Gryffindor, I don't think my grandma is going to let me live it up if I don't get there."

"I'm not sure about my extended family, but I know that my mum was in Gryffindor, she says that she doesn't care what house I'm in. But I really don't want to be a Slytherin; they seem like a mean bunch. I passed one of their compartments earlier and they looked at me like I'd committed a crime."

A smiling woman slid open our compartment door, "Anything from the cart, dears?"

I remembered the coins mum gave me yesterday and pick out a few sweets from the cart. I didn't go overboard since I'd also brought along a few sandwiches. I dropped the Chocolate Frogs, Cauldron Cakes and a small pack of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans onto my seat, next to Amy's basket. Neville Bought some of Drooble's Best Bubble Gum and a Pumpkin Pasty. The lady leaves and both of us start eating. After a little while, when I had eaten about half of the sweets I'd bought before, I decided to leave the rest for later when I get hungry again. Neville continued our conversation.

"What do you think we have to do for the sorting? I hope it's not a duel or anything, I don't know any spells yet," he said nervously.

"I don't think that's likely. Perhaps it's some sort of a question that you have to answer, or a test? I read a book about Hogwarts in the summer, but it didn't say anything about the sorting ceremony. I wonder why it's kept such a secret." I truly hoped that it wouldn't be anything difficult, sure I had read all of the textbooks, but that didn't mean that I could actually do anything.

Suddenly a frog jumped out of Neville's bag. I flinch, but only because it startled me. Luckily I'm not afraid of frogs.

"Is that yours? Is it a he or a she? What's his or her name?" I asked energetically - I really like animals.

"Trevor's a boy. I know that toads aren't the coolest pets, but I'm glad that I at least have one. Seeing how I forget stuff all the time, I shouldn't be allowed to have a pet."

"Well Trevor seems to like you," I try to comfort him. Trevor showed no signs of even noticing, let alone liking any humans around him, he just sat there un-moving if you counted out the pulsating of his throat.

While I was sitting there, contemplating whether or not to ask Neville if I could touch the frog (just to feel what amphibian skin feels like) the compartment door openws and before anyone could react, Trevor lazily and nonchalantly jumps outside into the hallway.

Everyone was shocked, especially the bushy haired brunette who had opened the door to the compartment. After a moment of confusion, she gasps "Oh, I'm terribly sorry! Let me go and find your frog." and then she darted out.

Neville and I shared a look and then followed the girl out into the hallway to help her look for Trevor. We looked through the hallway, but Trevor was nowhere to be found and you really can't miss a huge toad in an empty hallway.

"I'm afraid Trevor has jumped into someone else's compartment, I think we should ask around if anyone has seen him," said the girl. I cringe. I _really_didn't want to talk to any more unfamiliar people; I was going to have a panic attack behind every single door.

We split up, agreeing that this way we could cover more ground. I started to walk through the corridor, carefully peeking into the different compartments, but I couldn't bring myself to open any of them to ask about Neville's toad.

Suddenly, the door that I'm standing next to opened and either Fred or George smiled at me.

"Hey, Fred or George! Nice seeing you," I joked, trying to hide my nervousness.

"Lurking around the train corridor is always a good sign, were you planning on planting a dung-bomb? I'm George by the way and you should come on in if you're not afraid of spiders." He opened the door wide enough for me to fit through.

I stepped in to see Fred, a boy with dreadlocks and an auburn haired girl sitting there and smiling.

"Everyone, this here is Elise, our young prodigy, ripe for corruption. Elise meet Lee and Jolene," He gestured to the boy with dreadlocks and the girl who pulls me by my hand to sit beside her. "Of course you already know George," he gestured to George who has been vehemently waving at me the whole time. I give him a small wave in return.

"Please don't ever call me Jolene. Jo sounds much better, don't you think?" Jo told me as she mussed my hair. My wacky sense got a really good vibe from her and I liked her even though she thought its okay to mess with my hair.

"So what _were_you doing in that hallway if you weren't detonating any dung-bombs?" Fred asked me curiously.

"Did you come to see my gigantic tarantula?" Lee held up a half open box with a big hairy spider inside.

"Well, I had no idea that you had a spider, but I would have definitely come here to see it if I knew about it. Can I hold it?" I asked Lee and he put the spider gently on my hand.

"Don't worry, Steve doesn't bite," he assured me as the spider strutted up my arm as if he owned it.

"Actually I came here to ask if you've seen a toad." I said while keeping my eyes on Steve. As much as I liked him, I still wasn't comfortable with having a spider climbing all over my face.

"Please don't tell me that you have a toad as a pet," Jo sighed. "That's even worse than Steve here."

"Jo is scared of frogs," George tells me with a big smile on his face, "and I really hope you didn't ditch the cat for a frog. They are even more useless than cats; I think owls are the most pragmatic choice."

"You're starting to sound like Percy, since when do we care about what's pragmatic? Cats are cute and snugly. And no, we haven't seen a toad here," Jo retorted.

I gave Lee back his spider and he accepted Steve with a smile and put him back in the box, "we'll use him in our pranks. You might get the pleasure of hearing some screams coming from the bathrooms tomorrow morning. I sure do hope nobody smushes him."

I laughed as I stood up, "I think I'm going to go back to my compartment."

"Well, see 'ya! I hope your friend finds the frog, until then take this," Lee said as he threw a chocolate frog at me. I caught it and exit the door with one last wave at them. Maybe school wasn't going to be so bad after all.

_**AN: Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to leave me some feedback, come on, it's not that hard :) I love you all!  
Marie**_


	7. Chapter 7

Lover of the light Chapter 7

_**AN: Hey there! I hope you enjoy the new chapter, it's just a filler so it isn't very long. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, followed or favorited this story. You people are amazing! Big thanks to thetigerlilly for beta reading this story and fixing my mistakes :)**_

_**J.K. Rowling owns everything.**_

I went back to the compartment dejectedly, I was disappointed in myself for failing to find Neville's toad. I hoped a chocolate frog would make him feel a little bit better.

I plopped down on the seat, the brown haired girl and Neville were already sitting opposite me. Judging form their facial expressions and the negative feelings rolling off of them, I figured that they hadn't found Trevor either.

"I'm sure Trevor will turn up somewhere soon enough," I said hopefully, trying to make Neville feel at least a little bit better.

"I'm terribly sorry, I didn't mean to let your frog out when I came in, I was just looking for a compartment to sit in. There are some terribly rude people on this train. I'm Hermione by the way. What are your names?" The brown haired girl, Hermione, said confidently.

If I didn't know better, I would have admired her confidence, but instead I admired her ability to _seem_ confident. From what I could tell, she was just as nervous as me and Neville. I strengthened the walls around my mind. I didn't want to accidentally hear my new friend's thoughts.

I studied her features closer. She had a friendly face with kind brown eyes and an honest expression. I immediately liked her. She was different from Neville, but in a way just like with him, I knew that she would be a fierce friend.

"I'm Elise," I simply said and gave her a smile that I hoped would seem friendly. Neville introduced himself and told her that he was fine with the Trevor thing; It could have happened to anyone.

To my relief, Hermione was good at keeping up a conversation. I found out that she had also read all of her school books and a few other ones too, just to catch up with the wizarding world because she was a Muggle-born. We talked about school stuff for a while and I did my best to help Neville keep up with the conversation by explaining the things he didn't understand to him.

Hermione was obviously very bright, I enjoyed the way she made a conversation mentally challenging and willed me to keep up with her intellect. Neville was a little lost because of the speed of our conversation, but I knew for sure that he didn't feel left out or insulted, instead he was amused.

"I can't help but notice your accent. I assume you aren't British?" Hermione brought up the subject of my faulty English. I guess it can't be that bad, since I can obviously carry out a decent conversation.

"Yeah, I'm half, or I guess quarter, Swedish. I've lived in Sweden with my mum until a few months ago but luckily my mum sometimes speaks english with me, so there's no language barrier."

"So your mum's half Swedish?" Hermione confirms.

"Her mum was Swedish and got with an English guy. I guess it didn't work out between them since my grandmother moved back to Sweden after she got pregnant and lived with my great-grandparents. Mom mentioned that her dad actually owns a bar in Hogsmeade, but I guess they don't really get along since I've never met him."

"But your mum went to Hogwarts?" Neville asked.

"Yes, she moved to Britain to attend school here. But I guess she thought it would be better to move back to Sweden when she had me. You know, because of the wizarding war and all that."

They both nodded and I asked Hermione about her family. She quickly explained that she was an only child to the most normal muggle family one could imagine. Her parents were thrilled to have a witch in the family though.

When Hermione asked Neville about him, Neville just shrugged. "My gran raised me." I felt as if there was more to it, but I didn't pry. It seemed to be a touchy subject, luckily Hermione didn't ask further.

I suddenly remembered that I had some food left to eat. I added the sandwiches my mum had made me onto the small pile of sweets on my seat. I felt thrilled that I had all that food to eat, but before I dig in, I handed Hermione a chocolate frog, when I tried to give Neville one, he held up the chocolate frog Lee had sent him in exchange for his real frog and gave me a small smile.

While I was eating, I listened to Hermione and Neville's conversation about what classes they were looking forward to. Hermione seemed thrilled about all of them, while Neville was hesitant about them.

When I was done with all of my food except for the Bettie Bott's Every Flavor Beans (I offered to eat them all together). Hermione, Neville and I each took turns to taste a bean and try to guess what taste it was. It was actually quite thrilling, the moment before you put the bean in your mouth is filled with hope ready to be crushed as you feel the taste of vomit fill your mouth.

Neville was especially unlucky with the beans. He got onion, cherry, pepper, stale bread and one that he swore tasted like troll buggers. When I asked him how he knew what troll buggers would taste like, he just shook his head and took another bean that luckily turned out to be omelet flavored.

I got cucumber, strawberry, vomit, pumpkin, paprika and lemon flavored beans. Hermione, who was the luckiest of us all, since she got nothing too gross, got watermelon, cabbage, coffee, orange and apple flavored beans, though you wouldn't catch me wishing for cabbage and coffee flavored beans.

We didn't rush with eating the beans, having whole conversations in-between collecting the courage to taste another one, so by the time the box was empty it was already dark outside. Hermione said that she'd find out when we'd arrive and left the cabin.

While she was outside, Neville talked about how awesome wizard sweets really were and I told her about my mum's obsession with muggles and how she enjoyed trying out their sweets.

"Some of them are actually quite nice, you should try Milky Way sometimes. But they're just not as thrilling as wizard sweets." I explained to him.

"So you know a lot about muggle life? My gran hasn't really tried to live more like them. Of course she has nothing against muggles, she's not one of those bigoted purebloods, but she's very stern."

I opened my mouth, but didn't have the chance to answer him, because at that moment an out of breath Hermione appeared "I think we should change into our school uniforms, we'll be arriving in Hogwarts soon. Neville, you wait outside while Elise and I get changed and then it's your turn."

Neville exited without a complaint and Hermione and I quickly changed, then we got out and waited there until Neville told us to come in again.

After I sat down, I looked out of the I looked out of the window with a stomach full of butterflies as I imagined what the castle might look like.

_**AN: I hope you liked it, any kind of feedback would be cool. I'll finish the next chapter ASAP.**_

_**Marie**_


	8. Chapter 8

Lover of the light Chapter 8

_**AN: I hope you enjoy the chapter, big hugs to everyone who has reviewed/favorited/followed this story. I love you all a lot. thetigerlilly has eliminated my spelling mistakes, hugs to her too!**_

_**J.K Rowling owns everything!**_

Not long after we had changed our clothes, a voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

I figured that I must have looked just as pale as Hermione and Neville. We joined the crowd in the corridor.

The train stopped and the people started rushing to the doors, I stepped onto the tiny platform. I breathed in the cool night air and felt relieved. Fresh air always helps me clear my mind and at that moment it needed clearing. The surrounding crowd wasn't easy on my head, I did my best to not sway on my feet. I was beginning to feel really dizzy.

Neville grabbed my hand. "Hey, are you okay? We've got to go follow that guy over there, come on," I heard him say through a haze and followed as he pulled me along. I was ashamed of my weakness, this was not how I wanted to start my schoolyear.

I concentrated really hard and felt the dizziness fading. I noticed that we were indeed following a giant man who was leading us down a trail. It was a steep, narrow path and I felt lucky that I hadn't fallen down yet. Neville was in front of me and treading the path carefully, occasionally sniffling.

"Ye'all get yer firs' sight o'Hogwarts in a sec, jus' round this bend 'ere," the giant man called over his shoulder.

We reached the end of the narrow path and most people let out an 'oooh', I felt a smile stretch across my face. The sight before us was of a huge black lake and behind it I could spot the castle of Hogwarts on a high mountain. It's windows sparkled and reflected beautifully on the smooth lake, the starry sky looked like diamonds and the castle looked like one from a fairytale.

"No more'n four to a boat." The giant shouted and in the scuffle that commenced as everyone tried to get into a boat, I lost Neville and ended up on a boat with Hermione, Ron Weasley (I was glad to see another familiar face) and a dark haired boy.

"Everyone in?" Shouted the giant, who was in a boat by himself . "Right then – FORWARD!" He shouted and the boats began gliding on the smooth lake. Everyone was awestruck and quiet as we came nearer to the mountain the castle stood on.

When I looked into the water, I could see something huge moving there. When I inspected it with my spidey sense, I found out to my relief that it was just a friendly and curious animal. Seemed to be some kind of a squid.

"Heads down!" The giant yelled as we reached the cliff and passed through an ivy curtain that hid a dark tunnel. We stopped at some kind of underground harbor and exited the boats.

"Oi, you there! Is this your toad?" The giant (I wish I knew his name, it felt weird to call him 'the giant' in my head all of the time) shouted to Neville after apparently finding Trevor in a boat. How the hell did Trevor get into one of the boats?

Neville came to stand next to me after retrieving his pet. He looked relieved and happy, it truly was a lucky chance, finding Trevor here.

We walked up some stone steps and crowded around a huge oak door.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?" the giant asked and Neville turned beet red. The giant knocked on the door and it opened at once. A tall, stern looking witch welcomed them and after a brief conversation between her (Professor McGonagall) and the giant (apparently his name was Hagrid) she led them through the entrance hall and stopped in a small empty chamber.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room." She also explained what the four houses were. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin and told us about some of the rules in Hogwarts.

I was waiting anxiously, even though I didn't know what the sorting would be like I wanted to get it over with. I really wanted to know what house I would end up in.

"The sorting ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Her eyes landed on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron Weasley's smudged nose. I saw the dark haired boy I had been on the same boat with try to flatten his hair.

I followed Mcgonagall's eyes to Neville. "Neville, your cloak!" I put the cloak in the right way so that he wouldn't make a fool of himself in front of the whole school and he thanked me.

After meeting a few ghosts that lived in Hogwarts, McGonagall led us inside and everyone was blown away by the Great Hall.

There were four long tables and one table for the teachers in the hall and candles everywhere. I looked up to see the bewitched ceiling I had read about in Hogwarts: a history and it didn't look bewitched at all. It looked as if there was no ceiling, which was amazing and strange at the same time.

Proffessor McGonagall placed a four legged stool in front of the first years, on top of the stool was a ragged wizard hat. I looked at the hat curiously, until, to my complete surprise it opened it's mouth and started to sing!

The hat sung a song, which I thought was very clever and creative and the sorting began. Proffessor McGonagall started reading names off a paper and I was extremely anxious.

Several children went to the stool, tried the hat on and went to sit down among their new houses. What if the hat told me that I couldn't go to Hogwarts after all? I was doing my best not to hyperventilate when I heard my name.

"Lind, Elise."

I took a deep breath and didn't show people that I was nervous. When I reached the stool, I sat down and Professor McGonagall put the hat on my head.

"Well, well," a voice said inside my head. For a brief moment I was worried that I would start hearing all the other people in the hall too, but luckily that didn't happen, the walls around my mind were still in place.

"Aren't you a hard nut to crack? There's a lot in you that you don't even know about yourself yet. The obvious choice would be Slytherin, but you wouldn't last a day there. Yes, a lot of good qualities, but you're far too shy to show them to the world just yet. You could easily be a Ravenclaw, even a Hufflepuff- but no. You would reach your full potential in GRIFFYNDOR." the hat shouted the last word to the whole hall, the Griffyndor table cheered and clapped, I left the hat on the stool and walked to the Griffyndor table in a haze.

This was obviously a mistake. Griffyndor was for brave people, I was the opposite of brave. I sat down next to Hermione and then I had a moment of confusion, but luckily I came out of it easily.

I looked at Neville as when he fell over as he walked to the stool. I felt a little sorry for him as he sat down for a long time getting more nervous by the minute. I hoped he wouldn't get sent home for real. It took longer and longer until the hat finally shouted "GRIFFYNDOR" and Neville ran off still wearing it and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to "MacDougal, Morag."

Neville sat beside me looking red faced.

"Oh, Neville it doesn't matter, it could have happened to anyone. I almost forgot too." I told him and looked furiously at a couple of older kids who were still laughing, they immediately shut their mouths.

There weren't many people left now, after everyone was sorted the Headmaster Albus Dumbledore got to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide as if nothing could please him more than to see them all there.

"Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin out banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you"


	9. Chapter 9

**Lover of the light Chapter 9**

_**AN: Sorry for the long wait, I just couldn't come up with anything for this chapter. Thanks to the people who have reviewed, you're awesome! thetigerlily has beta read this chapter, big thanks to her too!**_

_**I don't own anything!1!1!**_

The headmaster sat back down, everybody clapped and cheered.

The dinner appeared and we talked about our families. Nearly Headless Nick sat down between us and showed us how he got his name.

The feast was wonderful and I ate as much (even a little more) than I could contain. At some point Ron and I had an eating contest which ended in a draw. Percy and Hermione were engaged in a conversation about school and I listened in with great interest, sometimes tuning out to talk to some of my other classmates. It seemed that the Gryffindors were a friendly bunch.

After dessert the hall went silent as professor Dumbledore stood up again. He explained a couple of rules and after that...

"and finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

I frowned, who would put a deadly thing inside a school? We then sang the school's anthem. When the prefect boy Percy started to round up the first yearGryffindors, I followed them up the stairs to the Gryffindor tower. I was too tired to marvel over the common room or even enjoy the beautiful dormitory where we went after I said goodnight to Neville. I was completely exhausted and thankful of the soft bed when I fell asleep as soon as I felt Amy snuggle into my side and start purring.

* * *

The castle of Hogwarts was insane. It literally had a mind of it's own. There were moving staircases, talking doors and tricky walls. It was easy getting lost in the ever moving corridors.

The first two weeks were the hardest. Despite having Hermione (whose logic mostly helped her navigate in the castle) as our level-headed guide, Neville and I had a way of wandering off and getting lost in the castle. I had managed to not be late to anything, but Neville got into trouble all the time.

Since he was an easy target, he got picked on quite often. I did my best to speak up for him, but I lacked the boldness. Other than that I got along with everyone nicely. I even made a few friends other than Neville and Hermione. Fred, George and Jo brought out the fun side of me (the one I never knew existed), they were planning a new prank on the Slytherins and I was helping them out a little bit.

The first year Gryffindors were all quite nice; other than Hermione and Neville, I got along with Harry and Ron. Ron and I bonded over food and Harry and I bonded over being confused all the time. Being around Harry was tedious though because of all the attention he drew. The other ones I had exchanged a few words with, but no more than that.

As much as I loved Hogwarts, it was very tiring, especially with my disability. I worked hard on not hearing the thoughts of my friends, I was even getting better at holding the walls around my conciousness up. But constantly being in a crowded place gave me headaches and I was extra tired. I had always been an early bird back home, but now I had to have Hermione wake me up in the mornings for me not to sleep in. The fact that I had no control over my mind while sleeping was no help at all. Other people's dreams flashed before my eyes all through the night. The things I have seen cannot be unseen.*

While everything else in Hogwarts demanded effort and concentration on my part, my studies did not. Even if I hadn't read all of my schoolbooks during the summer I would have done good. But since I had read them, I didn't _have_ to put much effort into my studies.

I did put effort into studying though. Hermione (who was insanely intelligent) had a manical wish to be perfect at schoolwork so we spent hours in the library every day along with Neville who really needed it, because no matter how hard he tried his grades just weren't looking up.

So even though I just wanted to 'wing it' with my homework every time we were given some, Hermione made me work hard on it and kept my laziness in check and I was thankful for that.

Our first flying lesson came and everyone was excited, I didn't know what to think of it though since Neville and Hermione seemed quite nervous and it was rubbing off on me too. Nervousness was an almost constant state for Neville, but something had to be quite unsettling for Hermione to lose her head. She had her nose stuck in a book about flying all through breakfast, Neville just looked a little green.

"Come on, Nev! It will be fun, you'll see." I tried to reassure him, but I wasn't that sure myself and that must have shown on my face.

"It's going to be a disaster." Neville said and kept shaking his head, so I stopped talking and tried to get into my 'not falling off a broom' mindset.

The owls came with the post and a tawny owl that mum had bought so that we could write to each other brought a letter to me. From the corner of my eye I saw a barn owl bring a package to Neville.

I scanned through my letter while Neville was opening his package.

"Mum gave me some tips on flying, but she also wrote that you can't learn to fly by reading instruction. You've got to have the feeling in you," I told Hermione and she put down her book dejectedly.

"Could I perhaps read the tips she gave you? Is she good at flying then?"

"The letter's no use for you, it's in swedish. She writes that she and my dad were on the Gryffindor quidditch team, so I hope flying is in my blood. This is going to end up being either very horrible or very awesome."

"I bet you're really good at it. You're kind of graceful and balanced all the time and you have the perfect body type for flying. At least that's what the books tell me," Hermione sighed.

"A person can be graceful all she wants on land, but being above ground on some enchanted wooden stick is a whole different thing," Fred sneaked up behind me, I spilled my juice on the table when he spoke straight into my ear.

George squeezed himself beside me and waved his wand to clean up the juice. "Don't worry, Ellie. We'll come and visit you in the hospital wing."

"Hey you're on the quidditch team. Tell me how do you do the thing with the brooms."

"Tut, tut. That information is confidential. Even if we did tell you, we couldn't help but give you wrong information just to make you fail so it's for the best that we refrain," George stated with a grin.

"Yeah, as much as we'd like to see you get into trouble, we would still like to have your limbs intact," Jo squeezed up on the bench between me and Nev. I looked over Jo to see Neville in a conversation with some other classmates of ours over the contents of the package he received.

"Hey, pay attention to us, we're bored" Jo mockingly whined until she saw what Nev was holding in his hand.

"Is that a rememberall?" she asked, Fred and George both turned their eyes to Neville simultaneously.

"It sure is," said Fred.

"Wicked!" all three of them utter at the same time. Sometimes they freak even me out, is this what happens if you're friends with someone for too long?

Jo chuckled as she saw the rememberall turn red, "Dudes, if there's anyone who needs a rememberall, it's Neville."

"I'll bet you 5 galleons he'll lose it," George exclaimed.

"You're on," Jo declared and reached over me to shake hands with George. I was pretty certain George was going to win this.

_**AN: Thanks for reading. In case you haven't notices, Jo is an original character, just letting you know. Reviews would be awsome :) **_


	10. Chapter 10

Lover of the light Chapter 10

_**AN: Hello lovely readers! I hope you like the chapter :) Thetigerlilly beta'ed it, and I strongly recommend that you read some of her stories, she's written plenty, so there's should be something for everybody and she is a terrific writer! J. K. Rowling owns EVERYTHING (except a few things).**_

After a little while Fred, George and Jo left and I scooted back next to Neville who was staring at his red remembrall with a scrunched up face.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"It's a remembrall, gran knows I forget things so she sent me one. It turns red when you've forgotten something," he held up the scarlet ball, "but sadly it doesn't tell you what you've forgotten."

I didn't get a chance to answer, because Draco Malfoy who was passing the Gryffindor table snatched the ball right out of Neville's hand. Harry and Ron both jumped to their feet, but Professor McGonagall, who could spot trouble quicker than any teacher in the school, was there in a flash.

"What's going on?"

"Malfoy's got my remembrall, Professor!"

Malfoy dropped the ball back onto the table.

"Just looking," he said and left with Crabbe and Goyle behind him like bodyguards.

At three-thirty that afternoon all of the Gryffindor first years hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for our first flying lesson.

The Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty broomsticks lying neatly on the ground. Madam Hooch, the grey haired flying teacher, arrived.

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up. Stick your right hand over your broom," called madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'up'!"

"UP," everyone shouted.

I looked at my broomstick that moved up a few inches. I tried to say it more forcibly and after three tries it went into my hand. Harry, who was standing on my right had his broom on his first try already.

"Congrats!" he said with a smile on his face.

"Thanks, you too."

I looked to my right and my smile faded. Neville's voice was cracking and his broom didn't move at all when he called for it.

Madame Hooch also showed us the correct way to sit on a broom. Harry, Ron and I grinned when she told Malfoy that he had been doing it wrong all along. Malfoy's ego really needed some deflation.

"Now when I blow my whistle, you kick off the ground, hard," Madam Hooch said. "Keep your broom steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down leaning forward slightly. On my whistle – three – two - "

But Neville, nervous and jumpy of being left on the ground, pushed off the ground before the whistle could even touch Madam Hooch's lips.

"Come back, boy!" she shouted.

I tried to grab the broomstick at the end to pull Neville down, but Harry pulled me back as Neville's broom suddenly jerked backwards and then went astray and shot straight up to the sky. Then he fell forward and crashed.

"Neville!" I screamed as I ran toward him.

Madam Hooch was bending over Neville, her face as pale as his. "Broken wrist," I heard her mutter. "Come on, boy. It's all right, up you get."

"Madame Hooch," I exclaimed. "May I come with you? I mean, he's my friend; I want to make sure he's alright and all."

Madame Hooch nodded and turned to the rest of the class.

"None of you is to move while I take this boy into the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch'. Come on, dear."

When I left the hospital wing it was dinnertime, so I went to the great hall. I wanted to stay with Neville, but Madame Pomfrey insisted that I should go to eat and let him rest for now. She said he would be alright.

I entered the Great Hall and the first year Gryffindors immediately began questioning me about Neville. I told everyone he was alright and sat down beside Dean because I couldn't spot any other vacant seats.

"Hey." I looked up to see Harry and Ron standing behind me. Harry was holding Neville's rememberball in his hand.

"Neville dropped this when he fell..." Harry explained. I took it from him and thanked him.

"Don't mention it," he said.

When he walked off I put the ball in my pocket. "Nice of him to pick it up," I said.

"You didn't hear?" Seamus asked bewildered.

"Hear what?"

Seamus and Dean told me about the duel Harry and Malfoy had had on broomsticks over Neville's remembrall and about how Harry caught the ball after Malfoy threw it away.

I remembered that Harry had grown up with muggles, meaning this was probably the first time he had flown on a broom, so that was quite impressive.

"He didn't get into trouble, did he?" I asked worriedly.

Dean shrugged "I don't know, McGonagall took him along, but he didn't seem upset when he showed up here. I don't think he's expelled."

I quickly finished eating my dinner and left the hall. I was going to go straight to the dormitory, I was quite tired and my head was starting to ache from the pressure of the day.

But as it tends to happen in Hogwarts, my plans were interrupted.

"Hey, kid, wanna buy some hardcore drugs?" I heard a crude voice hiss behind me. I turned around to see Jo doing her best to hold back laughter.

I snorted at her sneaking up on me. The three of them seemed to always do that.

"What's up, Jo?"

"We think Lee found a new secret passageway out of the school. You can come along if you're itching for an adventure."

I'd thought I'd had enough adventures for one day, but I was totally up for another one. Besides, the idea of getting out of school even for a little while was quite appealing. Getting a little rest for my mind seemed like a really good idea.

Jo's mouth stretched into a huge smile and her bright blueish-green eyes twinkled with joy when she saw me nod. I pushed down my guilt over breaking the rules.

"This'll be fun, I'm telling you," she kept saying as we were walking to the Gryffindor tower to grab some stuff and meet up with the boys. "I'm really glad I'm not the only girl anymore, you know. Even if you are a bit younger than us, that'll just leave you to carry on the legacy when we graduate."

"Hey, take along some money if you have any. If we're lucky and this passageway works, then we're heading straight to Zonko's. And hurry up!" she told me as we were heading up the stairs to the girl's dormitories. Then she went to the 3rd year's room and I to the 1st years.

The dormitory was empty. It was too early for anyone to go to sleep yet, I was kind of thankful because I really didn't want to explain to anyone what was going on. I grabbed the pouch where I kept the few galleons mum had given me for the school year. I thought it would be enough for me.

I quickly put on a sweater to keep warmer outside and stormed downstairs to meet up with my friends.

_**AN: I hope you liked it, I really wanted to make it a bit longer, but I had a long weekend with the whole summer solstice celebrations in my country and I also went to a Green Day concert yesterday (it was AWESOME), so i didn't have much time to write. Feel free to leave some reviews (pleeeeeeeeeeeeease I love communicating with you all SO much, let's get some discussions going here). Until next chapter!**_


	11. Chapter 11

Lover of the light chapter 11

**_AN: Sorry for the wait. I don'teven have an excuse, I'm just a lazy shit. Big thanks to thestorychoosesthewriter for making this story readable :)_**

"So, Lee, where's that new secret passageway to Hogsmeade you found?" Fred asked Lee when we had walked out of the common room and were out of the fat lady's hearing distance.

"It's right behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy. I haven't checked it out yet, but I'm damn sure It's a way out of the school," Lee grinned.

"Dammit, Lee. That's the one we found in our first year and it's a dead end," George said.

"What now?" I asked, they didn't seem very worried about the lack of passageways so I just assumed that they had a plan B.

"Don't worry, Ellie. We've got two other options. There's one on the fourth floor behind a mirror that leads to a trapdoor just outside of school borders and one behind a statue of a one eyed witch which leads to cellar of Honeydukes," Fred replied.

"I reckon that since there's so many of us we should use the one behind the mirror," Jo said, "sneaking in and out of that cellar can be tricky."

We made our way to the fourth floor and George pried open the mirror to reveal a narrow satairway that led steeply downwards.

George went in first, Fred and I followed him, after us came Jo and Lee closed the door after us. As soon as the door closed the stairway turned pitch black.

We started inching down the stairs and George said a spell that made the tip of his wand light the way for us.

"Hey, Ellie, can you do any spells yet?" Jo asked me.

"No, I haven't tried any. Why?"

"But you've got your wand with you, right?"

"Yeah," I replied uneasily.

"Let's see if you can do the spell. Take your wand out and say 'Lumos'," She ordered. As nice as Jo was, she sure liked to boss people around.

"I'm not sure this is going to work," I said, but did as she told me to. "Lumos," I uttered as confidently as I could and surprisingly the tip of my wand started glowing brightly.

Fred pinched my cheek. "Oh lookie, ickle Elliekins is all grown up and making magic." I saw George mockingly wipe a tear from the corner of his eye.

Jo gave me a pat on the shoulder. "Fred and George can make fun all they want, but you're quite the special snowflake. This spell is a few years ahead of you, Fred and George couldn't even _Wingardium Leviosa _their feathers in year one. I seem to recall George blowing his up."

"How about I put a dung bomb in your suitcase sometime?" George gave Jo a psycho looking smile.

"How about you don't," Jo deadpanned. They continued arguing and I tuned out to pay attention to our surroundings. We walked down the stairs for quite a while until we reached the bottom of the stairs.

We continued down a corridor that was just as narrow as the stairs, it's ceiling was so low that all of us had to awkwardly walk while stooping down.

Finally the corridor ended and I tried to peek from behind Fred as George opened the door to freedom.

They stepped out and I followed after them. The old trapdoor was covered by a bush and it was near a trail leading to Hogsmeade (at least that's what I assumed). It was far enough that five children crawling out of a bush would be left unnoticed by anyone walking along the path.

We started walking in the same direction as the trail, but didn't walk along it to avoid being detected. Luckily we weren't very far from the village and after a few minutes of strolling we arrived between the houses.

At first sight Hogsmeade was just another small village. It was normal-looking, definitely not something that would make a person speechless. It was a neat place.

"I reckon we'll go to Zonko's first and if we have any time left we'll visit Honeydukes too. Let's limit our time here to an hour, we really don't want to get caught today," Jo said.

Everyone agreed and we headed down the street.

Zonko's was a prank shop to fulfill even Fred and George's wildest dreams. All of them seemed to be old aquaintances with the shopkeeper, who welcomed them warmly.

"Nice to see you again Fred, George, Lee and Jo. And I see you've brought a new friend along, what's your name?" the shopkeeper, who looked like he was in his twenties, said as a greeting.

"I'm Elise."

"Nice to meet you! You can call me Jack. Have a look around, all prank-soaps are 5% off today."

I nodded and did as he told. Apparently prank soaps were soaps that did the opposite of what a soap should do. If someone tried to wash with them, they would cover the person with all sorts of stuff people really wouldn't want to be covered with. Like tar, bugs or even blood

I ended up picking out a box of multicolored sweets that turned your hair into whatever color you ate (temporarily of course) and two self-correction-quills. I mostly just looked around because I wanted to save up money for Christmas presents and I planned on going (moderately) crazy in Honeydukes.

We said farewell to Jack who told us to come back as soon as we could.

"Fred and George do you even have any money left for Honeydukes?" Jo asked George and Fred whose pockets and hands were full of pranking equipment.

"Of course not! We know you'll share your sweets with us," George said jokingly with a smug look on his face.

"Now what makes you think I would share my booty with you?" Jo answered indigantly and they started bickering again.

I didn't pay them any mind because I could literally smell the sugar coming from the half opened doors of Honeydukes.

I entered the warm shop first and I fell in love with it instantly. I just wanted to devour all of it's contents (except the humans of course, that's cannibalism).

I ended up buying a bunch of sugar quills (I find something oddly satisfying in buying school supplies, them being edible was just a bonus), two Honeydukes chocolate bars and a box of chocolate frogs. As much as I wanted to buy absolutely everything I was still saving up money for Christmas presents.

We paid for all of our stuff and Lee suggested that we should just go back to school through the trapdoor in the cellar of Honeydukes.

Everyone agreed, because it was quite chilly outside and no one wanted to walk all the way to the bush.

We waited for a while until the shopkeeper's back was turned and sneaked into the cellar. As quickly as possible with five people we got into the secret passage and made the trip back to school. It was a bit more comfortable than the one behind the mirror and it didn't look as it would collapse any second.

After a very uncomfortable journey (George and Jo argued the whole way into the castle) we arrived to the exit, which was in a statue of a one eyed witch.

It was past curfew, so the five of us had to be quite careful about going back to the common room. There was a close call with mrs. Norris, Filch's cat, but somehow we managed to not get caught by anyone.

Stepping into the common room I was greeted by a strange sight. Hermione was still up, she was sitting on one of the sofas, wearing her fluffy pink bathrobe and a scowl.

"Where were you?" she asked, Fred, George, Jo and Lee silently bid me farewell and I braced myself for a lecture from Hermione.

**_AN: I hope you liked it! If you did (or didn't) feel free to leave a review._**


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